1954-55 Topps Hockey

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The 1954-55 Topps hockey set was Topps' first attempt at producing trading cards for the National Hockey League. At the time, the league consisted of six teams known as the Original Six. Topps included all four American teams in this popular 60-card set - Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers.

1 History
2 Card trading
3 Card checklist

[edit] History

Each card in this set measures approximately 2⁵⁄₈" x 3³⁄₄", and features a player photo, team logo, team name, position, and a facsimile autograph. As is typical of most trading cards, the back of the card features biographical information, statistics from the 1953-54 season, and a few notes featuring hockey facts.

[edit] Card trading

While the set is printed in the United States, a large portion of the actual print run found its way to Canada, as baseball was America's national pastime.

As far as the hobby of trading cards is concerned, this set features only three Rookie Cards, including #18 Doug Mohns, #32 Camille Henry, and #35 Don McKenney. The inclusion of a very early Gordie Howe card is one of the main draws of this set, and the card can be seen trading in the $2000 range when in Near Mint condition.

Cards #1 and #60 are considered to be condition sensitive for two reasons. The first is their placement on the sheet during printing, and the second reason is due to the "rubber band" factor. The "rubber band" factor occurs when a tight rubber band is used to hold a stack of trading cards together, thus damaging the first and last cards in the stack. And in the case of complete sets, this would be cards #1 and #60.